Dearly Beloved?: The Next Generation
by blueIedangel
Summary: Draco and Ginny's oldest daughter heads back to Hogwarts for her last year of school where she learns lots of new things about life and especially love. Sequel to Dearly Beloved? featuring many old beloved characters as well as their offspring.
1. Cory

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the amazing world of Harry Potter!

Chapter 1: Cory

* * *

Cordelia Malfoy lay sprawled out across her bed, casually flipping through a Witch Weekly. She knew that she should be packing the items that laid strew haphazardly all around her room into her waiting trunk _and_ that her mother would be bursting into her room any second to bust her for neglecting said activity… but at that moment she really didn't care. Reading about a spell that could "make your man want you that much more" seemed much more important that preparing all of her things for her journey the next day back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for her seventh and finally year of schooling.

Cordelia, more often known as Cory, was experiencing what she had decided was an odd bout of nostalgia. She couldn't put her finger on it but she was decently sure that she was more upset then she had planned on being at the fact that her time in school was drawing to a close. This was the last time she would pack her trunk for a new fall term, the last grand send off at Platform 9 3/4 … it really was quite upsetting to her. The sadness that she was experiencing, she decided, was an sentiment unbecoming in someone so well versed in controlling her emotions.

She let the magazine fall to her lap and became lost in her thoughts as her fingers began to play with the tassels of the lime green pillow that propped her body up while she waited for her mother's inevitable entrance.

Sure enough a few minutes later minutes later Ginny Weasley Malfoy's voice filled her daughter's room. "Cordelia Jane! What is going on in here? It looks like some sort of a bomb exploded in your closet! Why has none of this made its way into your trunk?"

"Because I don't really feel like packing right this minute." Cory responded in a bored, distinctly Malfoy tone that was sure to annoy her mother.

"Cory, please. You're being ridiculous love. You are leaving for school in the morning and we both know that you will be taking so much stuff that you will be able to fill the whole dungeons. You need to start now so you have time to get it all done."

"Mum, I will get it done."

Ginny stood surveying her daughter contemplatively for a minute. "What's wrong?" she asked in that knowing tone that only a mother could.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me love. I'm your mother, I can tell." She joked hopping her way around all the piles of clothes to reach the bed. Cory couldn't help but crack a smile as she watched Ginny shimmy up onto the bed to plop down beside her. "Tell me."

"I don't know Mummy. It's just weird that it is my last year that's all… Things just feel different and I can't put my finger on why. I just feel like something big is about to change."

Ginny reached up and tucked a long lock of Cory's hair behind her ear. She surveyed her daughter contemplatively. "Well perhaps something will change, but change is good right? As least that is what I have been trying to convince myself. It is a rather big change you know sending you baby off to her last year of school. It seemed like just yesterday I put you on the train for the first time."

"Oh Mum, stop that." Cory admonished in a strained voice.

"No it's true. You are growing up and I am getting old and wrinkly. It really is rather depressing." Ginny brought her hands to her face and pulled her skin back at the temples, distorting her lovely face in an effort to evade the alleged wrinkles.

"Your wrinkles are very becoming dear." A new voice chimed in from the hall. Moments later Cory's father, Draco Malfoy, stepped into view. "In fact, I think you are more beautiful now then when we were first married, if that is possible. But I must disagree with you on your first point. We didn't put her on the train for the first time yesterday. That was 5 minutes ago; it was only yesterday that she was born and now she is nearly 18 years old."

He took one look at the warzone that was once Cory's bedroom shook his head. He made no comment but simply took out his wand and levitated every item in the room up to the ceiling so that he would be able to walk across the room unobstructed. He settled his long lean form on the other side of Cory and she automatically shifted to lay her head on his shoulder.

There was no denying it: Cory Malfoy was a daddy's girl.

"Oh gods… Draco, our baby is practically an adult. Does that mean we are officially old?" She sat up, red ponytail swaying and warm brown eyes full of what appeared to be genuine concern.

"We, my love, will never be old. You are still the most exquisite woman I have ever seen, excluding our genetically perfect offspring here of course, I know for a fact that I am just getting better with age thus there is nothing for us to worry about."

"You have just earned yourself some serious brownie points that you may redeem this evening sir."

A satisfied smirk played about Draco's lips. "I will definitely be taking you up on that."

"Ew! Ew! Ew! Stop it! Both of you! I am right here and know what you are talking about!" Cory stuck out her tongue and made a gagging sound. She knew that her parents were still very much in love but sometimes they took it a step too far in the presence of one or more of their three children.

"Cordelia darling, where do you think you, Harlan and Silas came from?" Draco asked coyly. He loved his daughter dearly but sometimes it was just too much fun to push her little, rather prudish buttons. He loved seeing her explode with frustration; it just reminded him so much of Ginny when she was Cory's age.

"Oh no, Harlan and I figured that out a long, _long_ time ago. We were conceived via handshake." She nodded her head emphatically.

Draco and Ginny both laughed.

"Have we ever shaken hands?" Ginny asked Draco.

"I don't believe so. I mean I suppose we could try that as well…"

Cory could see that this particular tactic would not work thus her quick mind shifted to a new plan of attack. "Well you know when I was dating…"

Her father's arm snaked around the back of her head and around so that his hand was able to clamp down around her mouth. "Point taken. New subject."

Cory smirked behind his hand as Ginny rolled her eyes. "You give in far too easily Drae."

"When it comes to my baby? Yes, yes I do." He replied, not at all ashamed of the loss.

"Alright then, I still very much have to harass your brothers. I'm sure they have done even less than you have!" Ginny said as she slipped easily off the tall bed. "You two behave and try not to blow anything up. Also, Cory, get this done."

"Yes mum. Of course mum." Cory responded doing her very best to sound like the innocent and well behaved child both of her parents knew she wasn't.

Cory and Draco both watched dutifully as Ginny exited the room. They chatted benignly about the new editions that were supposed to be made to the Slytherin Common Room, a mundane topic that was sure to throw Cory's mother off their trail. They continued to talk until the last of Ginny's footfalls were heard at the end of the hallway where she would undoubtedly be taking the right that would lead her down to Harlan and Silas's rooms.

As soon as she was safely out of ear shot Cory sprang up and began to bounce up and down in anticipation. She looked at her father expectantly but said nothing.

Draco in return stared back at her as if she had lost her mind. "May I help you with something Cordelia Jane?" he asked in a calculatedly bored tone, one eyebrow raised.

Cory still said nothing. After nearly 18 years of living with her father she would not fall for that trick so easily.

She simply stared him down and waited for the present he inevitably had hidden in one of his pockets.

You see, every year Draco Malfoy would surprise each of his children with one extravagant gift for their birthday. It was something that they each looked forward to all year.

When the children were younger the gift was received on the actual day of their birthday, but now that school interfered with all three they received them during the holiday closest to the date. For Harlan, his came at the very end of the winter break for his March birthday, Silas got his the first week of summer to coincide with his late May birthday, and Cory always received her present on the last day of summer for her birthday in late October. It was not so much of a surprise anymore as it was an expectation but all three had to dutifully play their part and of course they could not ask for the gift or Draco would intentionally withhold it.

There was also the added problem of keeping the gifts secret from their mother. Ginny Malfoy had always been of the opinion that just because her family had money did not mean that her children should grow up as spoiled brats who got anything they wanted. She was a firm believer in chores and earning the things they desired. It was her greatest desire that all three have a strong work ethic that often escaped rich pureblooded children.

The only problem with her plan was that her husband genuinely enjoyed spoiling his children. As often as he could manage to evade Ginny, Draco would spare no expense when it came to the whims and desires the Malfoy brood. He loved to surprise all three children and also his wife with extravagant gifts and was more than willing to dish out extra spending money to whichever child desired it when Ginny wasn't looking.

It made her absolutely livid. More than once over the course of their lifetimes Ginny had tried to forbid Draco from buying them anything at all.

That was why the birthday presents remained a secret between father and children. They all wanted nothing more than to avoid Ginny's wrath, which could be considerable depending on the circumstances. For such a tiny woman, Ginny Malfoy packed quite a temper.

"You can stare at me all you want Cory. I really have nothing for you right now."

Cory raised one eyebrow in a distinctly Malfoy way. "I'm confused."

"There is nothing to be confused about my love." Draco responded with a glint in his eye. "Your present is a bit more… extensive this year so I thought it would be best for both of us if I send it to you tomorrow night where your mother can't get a hold of it."

"More extensive? How upset is Mummy going to be?"

Draco smiled a maniacal little smile. "Pretty upset but it has already been taken care of with the people I am getting it from and I have already checked with Professor Snape for the legality of said object. He said that it passes with Hogwarts rules thus you will be in possession of something rather unique in Hogwarts history starting tomorrow. And you deserve this because?"

Cory shook her head and repeated sarcastically. "Because I'm a Malfoy?"

"Exactly! Alright well, you have at least a clue as to your present; enjoy trying to figure out what it is. Now start packing!" Draco insisted as he rose from the bed. "Everyone will be here in a few hours." He turned around to face his daughter, kissed her on the forehead and then exited the way he came, letting all her things fall to the ground in a cascade behind him to make a point.

"Wait, who is everyone? Daddy! Who is everyone?"

* * *

This is the first chapter to the sequel of my story Dearly Beloved?. What do you think? I will admit that the writing in a little rusty. I am still trying to break in a new story and new characters so bare with me a bit. Please review! I'm unsure of how this is gonna go over so I need opinions! I would also love to hear any ideas that anyone has! This one is much more open so I might be able to incorporate ideas if someone has something they want me to try!

Also, as annoying as it is, the title is still subject to change. I am not overly happy with it but we'll see. The idea for this title I got from JazzyGeorgie's sequel story to Dragon Tears just to give credit where credit is due.

Lots of love!

Care


	2. The Family

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the amazing world of Harry Potter!

Chapter 2: The Family

* * *

"_Wait, who is everyone? Daddy! Who is everyone?"_

Draco sighed and popped his head back into her room. "Who do you think everyone is love?"

The family.

"But why? The send off was here last year! Isn't it supposed to be at Hallie and Theo's this year?"

"Yes, but Hallie owled your mum yesterday. I really didn't even get the story as to why it couldn't be at their Nott Manor but your mother just told me that everyone would be coming here and so I smiled and nodded. After 18 and a half years of marriage I have found that that really is the best policy with your mother." He added with a wink. "Now clean!" and with that he was gone.

Cory let out a deep dramatic sigh as she surveyed the damage to her room. She began to sort through all the clothes and other items, one by one laying them in her trunk, sifting through all the items in her life in order to deem what is most important and what wasn't.

As she cleaned she began to think about the news her father had given her. The family, or at least to those to whom it applied, would be coming to Malfoy Manor. You see, while Draco was an only child, Ginny on the other hand was the youngest of seven children. She had six older brothers, all of whom had children of their own for a grand total of fifteen grandchildren of which Cordelia was the eighth.

To begin with there was free spirited Uncle Bill and gorgeous, part-veela Aunt Fleur with their three children Victoire, Dominique and Louis, all of whom had graduated from Hogwarts already.

Next there was Uncle Charlie who had married a Romanian woman and fellow dragon trainer named Catina whom he called Cate. They had one son, Arthur, who actually decided to go to the wizarding school, Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, to stay with his Romanian friends making him the first in many generations of the Weasley family to not attend the school.

Though for years there had been a rift in the family between Uncle Percy and the rest, with his marriage to Aunt Audrey, he strove to mend it and became part of the family once again. They later had two daughters, Molly and Lucy. Lucy had only just graduated from Hogwarts that past spring and it was a little hard for Cory to picture being at school without her.

After Percy came the twins, Fred and George, both of whom had ended up with their school sweethearts. Fred had married Alicia Spinnet and they had two sons, Samuel and Grant. The latter was in Harlan's year in school and the two were close friends. Grant, along with Harlan and James Potter, better known as Jamie, were what Cory had always referred to as Gryffindor's Three Musketeers. George had married Angelina Johnson who gave birth to her own set of twins when Cory was only a few months old. They were named Roxanne, now better known as Roxie, and Jasper and were both part of Cory's close circle of friends in her year even though they were both sorted into Gryffindor.

Her mother's final brother was Ron who after years of being friends and then years more of dating finally proposed to and then married his best friend Hermione Granger. They also had two children, Cory's best friend Rose, a Ravenclaw in her year and then Hugo, a fourth year Gryffindor.

Last but not least, Ginny and her family rounded out the set. All in total the Weasley family proper now comprised a grand total 31 people and counting as some of Cory's oldest cousins were now nearing the marriage and babies age. It was an insane and exceptionally loud group when they were all together but they were her family and she really did love them all.

On top of the traditional three generations of Weasley family though, there also existed three other couples and their children whom claimed titles as part of the family: the Potters, the Notts, and the Zabinis.

Harry Potter was to the wizarding world the famous 'boy who lived', orphaned as a baby, bearer of the lightning bolt scar, the one who saved them all from 'you-know-who' back when he was still in Hogwarts with the help of his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, better known as Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and even Ginny Weasley. To Cory though, he was just Uncle Harry, husband of Aunt Allison and father to her 'cousins' James, Lily and Albus and they were all part of the family.

Theo and Hallie Nott were two of her parents' very best friends. Hallie, an American, had been her mum's flatmate and best friend back before she had married Draco and Theo had been best friends with her father for their whole lives as far as Cory could tell. They had two sons, Pierce who was in Cory's year and Declan, a fifth year, who was one of Silas's closest friends. Both of the boys were in Slytherin House with Cory.

Draco and Theo's third friend was Blaise Zabini. He had fallen in love with Luna Lovegood, her mother's other best friend, back when they were all still at Hogwarts and they then got married not too long after Cory's parents. Blaise was ridiculous. Cory's earliest memories of him were of Blaise leading around a gaggle of the children to go get into mischief and teaching them how to smile innocently anytime they were caught. Luna was then always the one to catch them and put Blaise back in his place with a stern look that only he could bring out on the blond woman's dreamy features. The only thing bad about the Zabini's was the fact that their first child was in Cory's opinion a demon spawn whom she considered to be the bane of her existence. This fact was barely rectified by the birth of their younger daughter Seraphina who was just this year entering into her first year at Hogwarts. Seraphina was the sweetest child in the world and absolutely adored Cory, a trait seemingly shared among the Zabini offspring.

After about an hour Cory paused in her cleaning and her musings to survey her progress. All her hard work was definitely beginning to pay off as there was definitely a noticeable difference in the disaster area. It was really exhausting though to sift through so many things, Cory decided that it was going to be easiest to cheat and use magic to at least put away the items she was sure were going to be staying here at Malfoy Manor.

She took a lesson from her mother and tried to hop over one of the larger piles in order to reach her bedside table where her wand safely lay. Unfortunately, Cory misjudged the true size of the pile and landed just short of the other side. There was a distinct crack a few layers down. Cory winced at the noise and began to dig under where her feet had just been to discover that she had done serious damage to the picture of her family that she kept on her nightstand at school.

She took the broken object over to her original destination and used her wand to quickly mend the shattered glass. Once repaired, Cory took a moment to observe her family smiling and laughing as they conversed in the portrait they had had taken last Christmas.

She was seated in the front next to her mother. The two women looked eerily similar, despite Ginny's insistence that she was developing wrinkles. They were just about the same height and Cory had inherited her mother's heart shaped face and full lips. Cory's hair also fell in long wavy tresses just like Ginny's, only hers was a few shades lighter than her mother's deep crimson, more strawberry than true red. When standing, Cory was now about three inches taller than Ginny's 5'3" frame, but even at that height, around the majority of her family and friends Cory was still among the shortest of the bunch.

While most of her was distinctly Ginny, two of her features were markedly Malfoy. Firstly, her nose was noticeably Malfoy. Both she and Harlan had developed the sharp, angular nose of their father. Her eyes too Cory had inherited her father. They were brilliant silver grey eyes and, according to Ginny, had Draco's innate ability to express their entire range of emotion without uttering a word.

Her father. Cory's eyes flicked to Draco briefly and examined the features there. They were so familiar and loving, it was so hard to believe the stories he had told them about when he was "young and stupid" before he had married her mum. That Draco really seemed to bear no resemblance to the man that was her father. Someone who did though was his near twin that stood right beside him in the portrait, her little brother Harlan.

While Cory had inherited much of her mother's looks but her father's 'Malfoy temperament', conversely, Harlan was nearly the spitting image of a younger Draco but he was distinctively a member of the Weasley family right down to his sorting into Gryffindor. He had the Malfoy nose, the Malfoy jaw, the Malfoys' naturally light blond hair but when you looked into his eyes they were not Malfoy at all. In fact, looking into Harlan's eyes was like looking into Ginny's warm and inviting chocolate brown eyes. This feature along with all the rest made Harlan a real heartbreaker at school. He really was gorgeous! He was also huge. Harlan already nearly matched Draco's 6'3" frame and would probably to surpass him in the next year or so if he grew anymore. He was slightly stockier though than his father, giving him more of a chaser's build than a seeker's sleek body. Harlan used all of this to his advantage as one of the star players on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

Quidditch seemed to be something that ran in the Malfoys' blood. Draco had been one of the youngest seekers in Slytherin history and Ginny was Gryffindor's ace chaser for several years back in her Hogwarts days and all that talent easily carried down to their children. While Harlan was also a Gryffindor chaser, Cory carried on Draco's legacy by becoming one of the best seekers that Slytherin had ever seen, and Silas, in his never ending cycle of being just a little bit different from his siblings carbon copies of their parents, had just recently become the keeper for Hufflepuff when his predecessor had become injured and unable to finish the season. Silas proved himself to be well deserving of the family legacy.

Cory's eyes shifted to the figure the youngest of the three Malfoy children standing just behind their mother, on their father's other side, Silas. Silas was without a doubt the black sheep of the entire Malfoy/Weasley family. Cory had long been convinced that Silas was just incapable of doing anything the conventional way. It wasn't as if he tried to be different, he just naturally was.

His looks for example, while Cory looked like Ginny and Harlan looked like Draco, Silas didn't look like anybody. It was true that he had certain features that matched his parents, like Draco's jaw line and Ginny's nose and eye shape, but when you got right down to it Silas had a patchwork appearance that few in the family could actually identify. He was definitely on the smaller side being currently only a few inches taller than Cory and very skinny but there was definitely potential for more growth seeing as he was barely 14. His hair was darker than the normal Malfoy blond, more of a sandy color than anything and his eyes were a crystal clear blue that could miraculously be attributed to both of his grandmothers. He was a very cute kid, but nowhere near the heartbreaker that Harlan was.

Going beyond his atypical appearance though, Silas was also the only person in either family to ever be sorted into Hufflepuff. It came as quite a shock to Ginny and Draco when they found out about his sorting. No one could fathom why it was that he was sorted into a house that both families had always considered to be… not for them. It was very hard on Draco especially when he was forced to learn how to cut out all of his Hufflepuff jokes out of respect for his youngest son. Sometimes though cracks at the house would still slip out and inevitably Ginny would attempt to kick Draco under the table while he tried to back pedal and apologize. Silas though was always eternally good natured and would simply laugh at the joke and often continue it by providing real life examples from his experiences in the Hufflepuff Common Room just to try and put his father's guilty conscience at ease.

That was the best part about Silas. He was eternally selfless, always seeking to make those around him comfortable even at the expense of himself. At only 14, Silas treated other people with a kindness and wisdom that was far beyond what should be expected of someone of his age. Cory was sure that he was the best of all of them. Silas was meant for something special, there was no doubt about it; the question just remained as to what.

She placed the portrait back on her nightstand. She would pack it last to try and ensure that no more harm came to the photo. Cory stood up and resumed her regime of sorting through all of her things.

* * *

Sometime later, Cordelia had very nearly finished her packing efforts and there was almost a floor in her room again. She was feeling very accomplished that she had really only been at it for just over an hour and was surveying her efforts when there was a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" she called out.

"It's me." Replied her mum. "And I have a few surprises with me."

Cory's eyebrow naturally maneuvered its way towards her hairline. Ginny with a surprise, this couldn't be good. "Come on in."

The door gently swung open and her mother's fiery mane popped into view. "I think I found some things that belong to you."

She stepped in and aside as two blurry images flew into the room and hurled themselves at Cory screaming. They both pounced on her at almost the same moment and threw two sets of extremely tan arms around her.

Cory laughed at the crazy reaction, recognizing them immediately: Jasper and Roxanne, the twins.

After a moment they both pulled back and started talking at her all at once. She did not understand one word. "Guys!" She called out over the noise. "Calm down! I have no idea what you are saying."

Jasper and Roxanne were the children of Ginny's brother George and his wife Angelina and were two of the most exotically beautiful people Cory had ever known. Because their mother was half black, the twins had the most beautiful olive skin tone with, oddly enough, a darker version of the red hair and a perfect smattering of freckles. On anyone else it would have looked terrible but both in both the male and female version of the twins they defied convention and made it work.

They both stepped back laughing.

"Sorry love," Jasper began. "There was just too much excitement to contain it all. We have both missed you far too much this summer."

"Yes," Roxie continued. "Italian men are beautiful but they just don't have your sparkling conversational skills… they do have lots of other talents though." She added with a wink.

"Oh you're terrible!" interjected another voice from across the room. Cory craned her neck to see her best friend and another cousin, Rose, standing, arms locked with Ginny, on the far side of the room.

Roxie turned and winked at her. "Not at everything."

"And I think that might be my cue to head off now." Ginny said making a face and laughing. She turned and exited the room to a chorus of 'Goodbye Aunt Ginny's and one 'Goodbye mum'.

"Look at that Roxie! Your vulgarity ran Aunt Ginny out of the room." Rose headed over the other three and all four climbed onto Cory's giant bed and spread out.

"She'll be fine." Cory insisted. "She and daddy were making similar comments this morning to intentionally make me uncomfortable. She deserved a little taste of her own medicine. So tell me all about your amazing Italian adventure!"

Jasper immediately sat up, ready to tell all of his glorious tales about the beaches, the food and, most importantly, the men but before he could even begin he was quickly cut off by his insistent sister.

"We'll get to that eventually. Those stories will keep. More notably, guess who is coming baaack…"

Cory sat up and glared at her cousin suspiciously. "Who?"

Roxie just smirked at her then flicked her eyes over to Rose who already wore a sly smile on her face. "Would you like to do the honors? It is technically your news since you have already seen him that is."

"I don't know Roxie, should I?" Rose replied sweetly.

"Rose Weasley, you tell me right now." Cory insisted, tossing a pillow at the aforementioned offender.

"Oh for pity's sake, you are both awful." Jasper cut in. He was always the most compassionate out of their little group.

He did not appreciate his sister or Rose harassing Cory. He could already see where this would lead: to chaos. All three of them were Weasley women which meant that they were good at nothing if not being over dramatic and blowing up about something unnecessarily. And unfortunately, Cory was the most prone to this as well because of Malfoy heritage giving her doubly dramatic parents.

Jasper had always really liked both his Uncle Draco and Aunt Ginny but there was a certain distinct strain of crazy that seemed to run through this particular branch of the family which all of them had in abundance, except possibly Silas.

Besides it just being unnecessary to mock her, Rose and Roxie were also wrong to be teasing Cory on a completely different level outside of the family insanity and just as her friends. Each of the four of them had certain subjects that were just taboo to poke fun at. For Jasper it was the fact that he was gay, for Rose it was her constant on-again, off-again not so secret relationship with Pierce Nott that none of them officially knew about but all were kept up to date on. Roxie… well she did tolerate pointing out any of her flaws at all to be honest, and Cory did not allow them to tease her about anything regarding her alleged lifelong enemy.

"Please tell me Jas, you know they won't now."

"Finn's back."

Cory swallowed. Of course. How could she have forgotten? Finneaus Zabini. "Oh."

* * *

So this was a serious background chapter. I wanted to knock as much of the family stuff out as I possibly could just to get it out of the way! Some of the Weasleys family branches are exact while others are either partially or entirely fabricated. I'm not going to lie chapters like this are kind of exhausting with all the constant explanation and desctiption and not much action. I hope I managed to pull it off!

Quick apologies for not using the metric system like they would in Britain. While I am intelligent enough to figure it out I'm also a lazy American and thus just decided to use what I know. I usually try to at least attempt to make is slightly more Brit but I really didn't feel like it.

**ALSO**, Silas being in Hufflepuff is my little dedication to my favoritestest Hufflepuff, a reader and a personal friend, who has always endured all of this Slytherin's pointed jokes about her house.

Please REVIEW! And Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter!

Care


	3. Finn

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the amazing world of Harry Potter!

Chapter 3: Finn

* * *

"Oh." Jasper mimicked. "Did someone forget that their favorite person in the world was coming home?"

"No, I didn't forget! But are you sure? I mean, wasn't he considering spending another semester abroad?" Cory questioned as she chewed on her lip.

"He is really back, love." Rose assured her. "Pierce and I ran into him in Diagon Alley yesterday afternoon."

"Oh."

"Your vocabulary is astounding today darling." Rose laughed.

"I'm sure you know how thrilled I am that Finn is back. Words are not entirely necessary."

"Oh come on Cory!" Jasper said exasperatedly. "You are probably the only witch, not to mention quite a few wizards, in all of Hogwarts who isn't in love with him in some capacity and ironically you are the only one he has ever wanted… It is really a great tragedy."

"Hey, I get it. He is beautiful, there is no denying it even by me. He just… I don't know rubs me in all the wrong ways."

"He can rub me in all the wrong ways." Roxanne muttered receiving a death glare from Jasper and Rose simultaneously. "What?"

Cory smiled. "You go right ahead if you can convince _him_. In fact, whoever wants him can have him. I sure as hell don't care."

"You know Cordelia, if you don't change your tune and shag that boy senseless soon I am going to just do it for you… especially if Rose is right and his American adventure left him even better looking than before."

Jasper snorted. "Big surprise there Rox."

Roxie spun around to face her brother. "And what is that supposed to mean sir?"

"I believe he is insinuating that you are a trollop Roxanne." Rose piped in helpfully.

"Thanks Rosie but I think I got what he is saying. How dare you Jas! You are supposed to be my brother, my own twin! We shared…"

"The womb. Yeah, yeah, Rox, I've heard it before. Remember though, dear sister, that I am also the one who was dragged through half of Greece this summer while you shagged, at minimum, one third of the bloody peninsula! I feel that it entitles me to at least call you somewhat of a slag in front of our closest friends."

Roxanne gawked at her brother, her mouth opening and closing in shock.

"He's most likely got you there love." Cory agreed as she did her best to stifle the giggles that threatened to escape. She thought Roxanne looked rather like an exotic goldfish sitting there with her mouth wide open. "Although I would love to hear more about you adventures very soon!"

"You should have been there!" Jasper whined. "You were _supposed_ to have been there! We had been planning that trip all year."

Now it was Cory's turn to snort. "Like my dad was actually going to let me go gallivanting around in a different country. He barely let me go as far as London and even that was the cause of one of the biggest fights that I have ever seen my parents have."

"Well next year you have to come. You will have already graduated from Hogwarts and would have been an official adult in the wizarding world for nearly two years. Uncle Draco can't object then! And I'm sure Blaise and Looney will let us stay in the villa again. We were super well behaved when they were there." He insisted, his careful choice of words slipping by no one.

"And by well behaved he means that during the week the Zabinis and the Notts were there they chose to spend the nights at their partner of choice's place rather than Zabini Villa." Rose sarcastically interjected into the conversation, calling Jasper out.

"That counts!" Roxanne agreed with her brother. "Plus at least we weren't the ones shagging Pierce under the same roof as his parents."

Rose flushed bright red, nearly matching the color of her hair. "You can't prove that."

"The hell we can't." Jasper chimed back in. "You two were quite obviously on at that point or you wouldn't have even come. You can't deny that."

Roxanne nodded her agreement. "You know you two really should just start dating already, like for real. No more of this we're just super close friends who just happen to be fuck buddies."

Rose dropped her eyes as her blush darkened even more. "It's not like that. We're not… fuck buddies."

"We know, we know. We've always known that you are together in everything but name. Trust me, Jasper and I have the concept of fuck buddies on lock. We each have at least three steady ones and none of them have even an iota of the devotion that the pair of you have, not to mention the bloody monogamy that neither of you would ever consider breaking. You two belong together my love."

"Shut it." Rose mumbled under her breath.

"They've got you there Rosie." Cory agreed. "Both on the fact that you just need to give in Pierce's request to make it official and the fact that they are _both_ slutty."

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm going to ignore the fact that you just made a very rude verbal jab at my twin and I and focus on the new information I just received." Jasper twisted to look at Cory. "Piece has actually found the balls to ask Rose out on an actual date? When did that happen?"

Cory looked at Rose for permission to continue, who just shrugged her acceptance… or surrender. "At the beginning of the summer. She never gave him an answer one way or the other but he most definitely has begun to refer to her as his girlfriend in some circles, assumedly in anticipation of a yes."

"Well that is new fun gossip."

"What is?" questioned a new voice from the door. Moments later Harlan Malfoy walked into his sister's room.

"How sexy you are." Jasper explained flashing him a cheeky grin and effortlessly changing the subject without missing a beat. "Bloody hell! Have you grown again? It really is getting absurd at this point Harlan."

Harlan smirked. "Probably, who knows and the fact that I am sexy is not new information." He flipped his longish blond hair that was the bane of their mother's existence out of his warm brown eyes in a practiced manner.

"Valid." Roxanne agreed nodding solemnly. "The greatest tragedy of my life is that you are my first cousin sir."

Harlan let out a booming laugh. "I enjoy that you felt the need to specify first." He retorted with a wink. He greatly enjoyed his playfully flirty relationship with the twins even though none of them actually meant it. "So what were we actually talking about?"

"Nothing important." Cory insisted patting the only square of the bed that was not already draped with at least one layer of bodies. "But you know what else happened this summer that is actually fun new information…" she changed the subject again. "Harlan has a new secret girlfriend."

"What?" All three of the cousins exclaimed at almost the same exact moment.

"Spill!" Rose added right afterwards. She was especially grateful for a new topic of gossip and was determined to exploit it and keep the twins prying minds busy.

Harlan's face contorted into a grimace. "Really Cordelia? You just have to tell everyone don't you."

"Not everyone, just the most important people." Cory smirked in a very Malfoy fashion. "I also greatly enjoy watching Mr. Cool squirm a little bit." It was so hard to get under Harlan's skin that when she found a soft spot the Slytherin in her couldn't help but poke it a bit, just to gage the reaction of course.

"Who is she?" Roxanne begged again.

"That's the big secret," Cory replied as Harlan reluctantly sat down next to her and pointedly began to stare at the green ceiling. "He will not tell anyone at."

"Well then how do you know she even really exists?"

"Oh we know. Harlan slipped and mentioned that he had a girlfriend and since then he has had to put all his effort in maintaining her secret identity especially with the third degree that he has been getting from all sides. The other musketeers and I have been intentionally berating him and then pooling the bits of information we have gathered through many months of hard work and we believe we have a few solid clues as to her identity."

Harlan sighed and shook his head. "You are way too intense about this Cory."

"Am not. I am just the right amount of intense and not nearly as into it as Jamie so shut it."

"Oh will you two stop bickering and just tell us who you think it is?" Jasper whined.

"Oh, we have no idea. You forget, Harlan is just as much a Malfoy as I am. Despite his abnormal Gryffindor-ness," she joked, receiving several rude gestures from all three Gryffindors in the room. "He can definitely keep a secret locked down tight. What we think we definitely know though is that she is not a Gryffindor, she is at least a fourth year, and she is, of course, not a ginger."

"What's wrong with being a ginger?" Roxanne asked in a miffed tone as reached over to smack Harlan in the thigh.

He sat up next to her and began to twirl one of her bobbed strands of hair. "Nothing love, I just can't under any circumstances be attracted to a ginger. They all look like the family."

Rose laughed out loud. "That's because with the size of our family they all probably are."

"Anyways," Cory asserted over them. "That narrows it down to about 54 girls which Jamie, Grant and I all plan to assess individually for their potential as candidates."

Jasper laughed out loud. "Wow, he's right. You are too intense love. How did you even get that number? And for that matter das he even confirmed any of these theories? "

"No!" Harlan assured emphatically.

"Shh. Of course he denied them. He's the subject. There are certain tell tale signs with Har that give him away, none of which I will reveal with him here. And 54 is the number of girls we could come up with in the 4th through 7th years who are not Gryffs, not Gingers and aren't related."

"You're insane." Jasper said in slight disbelief.

"Right?" Harlan agreed. "Trying living with her. At least you get time off."

"Not much."

"True."

"It's not just me and you are both stuck with me so get over it. Can we now go back to my impending problem for a minute?"

"Yes my queen?" Jasper replied demurely, batting his eyelashes. "What is your problem?"

"Who do you think my problem is? Finn!"

"Here we go again." Rose sighed.

"Agh! Well that's my queue to leave!" Harlan laughed as. "I'm sure I have more packing or something to do." He leaned over and kissed Cory on the forehead and waved to the rest before springing up off the bed and heading out the door.

"Coward." Jasper called out after him.

"Yep," came his shameless voice from the hall. "Proud of it."

* * *

Finneaus Zabini was nearly finished packing his belongings for what felt like the millionth time this year. He was really beginning to find the task tedious, trying to decide what was most important for him to tote with him, whether it be around the world or just back to school. From school to home to his study abroad in America, packing and, conversely, unpacking was simply miserable.

He was beginning to consider just magicing everything into his trunk and sorting through it at school when he heard his door open and an all too familiar sarcastic voice from that general vicinity say: "Bloody hell Zabini, haven't you finished with all that yet?"

He grinned and turned around to face a wiry bloke about his height with brown hair so light it bordered on blond, cut short and styled with messy jagged angles and eyes that were a bright mischievous green, none other than his best friend Pierce Nott.

"Who let you in here?" Finn shot back grinning as Pierce threw himself into one of the chairs in the room. "And better yet why are you here at all?"

"The answer to both your questions my dear fellow is your mum. My mum decided to answer your father's desperate plea for help thus forcing me to be ready to go two hours earlier then I originally intended. Because of this it has become my personal endeavor to make the next two hours of your life slightly more miserable as retribution." He explained, shooting Finn a cheeky grin.

"Poor baby." Finn responded in a dead panned voice that was dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure it was so hard on you."

"It was."

"More importantly," Finn countered, rolling his eyes. "My dad finally sent out an SOS did he?"

"Yep. Practically begged my mother to come and calm yours so she and I came here and dad and Declan will meet us at the Malfoys'. So what's going on with Looney anyway?"

Finn sighed heavily. "She is undergoing some sort of serious separation anxiety with Seraphina's impending departure. Something about with an empty nest she is now useless to everyone and she can't believe her baby is leaving her, all that jazz. Mostly I've just tried to stay out of it. I feel like I moved back into the middle of an emotional war zone."

"All that jazz huh?" Pierce smirked. "What an American saying! My mum says things like that all the time. You pick up any other gems like that while you were there?"

"Not sure."

"Priceless. Well you certainly do look different."

Finn smirked. "Do I? I hadn't noticed."

Pierce rolled his eyes. "Sure mate, if you say so. I, on the other hand, was completely regaled on your transformation by Rose after we ran into you last week."

Finn's smirk deepened. "So Rosie was impressed then?"

Pierce did not respond but shot him a look that spoke volumes.

"Good." Finn said in a self satisfied manner. "That was the overall goal: to attract more women."

"Annnd by women you mean Cory." Pierce stated matter-of-factly. It was a well known fact that Finn Zabini had been in love with Cory Malfoy for most, if not all, of their lives and yet despite his very best efforts he had never convinced the lovely Ms. Malfoy that she should feel the same.

"Nah mate, I'm through with chasing after some bird who will obviously never return my interest. I'm a new man and I want to experience new women."

"Some bird? Since when is Cory just some bird? Where did all of this come from?" Pierce asked skeptically. No matter what Finn said, he did not believe that his friend would be able to just cast his lifelong crush aside in only a matter of a few months.

"From your cousin Claire."

Pierce's head jerked up. "Don't make me punch you because I will."

"Your family was lovely and Claire was a very… obliging hostess and I'm not saying anything more." Finn assured him as he quickly crossed the room into the bathroom to retrieve the things he needed from there.

Pierce remained in the chair slightly fuming at what his best friend was insinuating about his cousin whom Finn had been living with for months but then a smile came to his lips as he thought of the perfect form of retribution. "Well you know," he called out. "You aren't the only one who underwent some changes this summer, mate."

Finn raised an eyebrow at his best friend as he reentered the room. "What do you mean?"

"Little Ms. Malfoy took on a reform project of her own."

Finn snorted sarcastically. "What'd she do? Learn to flip her hair to the left instead of the right? There is nothing about Cory that she would need to change." Even if he no longer had any intention of spending his time focused on her, there really was no use denying that she was pretty much perfect in his eyes.

"First off, despite what you claim about you being over her, it is still creepy that you know which way she flips her hair. I have actually been with Rose in some form or the other for years and still haven't noticed things like that. And secondly, Cory went for more of a… soul searching/self-discovery type thing rather than any sort of physical improvements." Pierce said grinning.

"Such as?"

"Such as spending the summer going out partying a couple times a week in London, every week."

Finn turned from the stack of clothes he was magically folding and raised one eyebrow. "Cory went out? Like to bars? Are you sure we are talking about the same person? Cordelia Malfoy?"

Pierce's grin grew wider. "Yes we are. I know firsthand because I was the lucky bloke that got to go and fetch both her and my girlfriend when their drunk arses were too sloshed to even floo home and more than once I would have to peel Cory off some bloke or the other."

Finn understood what Pierce was saying but he still wasn't sure he believed it… and if he were honest with himself he didn't want to believe it. "And Draco allowed this to happen?" he fired back. It was well known all over the wizarding world that Draco Malfoy was almost insanely protective of his children, especially of his only daughter. Finn just couldn't picture him allowing his baby to go out partying with just one other girl and no sort of protection.

"Draco didn't have a choice in the matter, Ginny put her foot down and forced him to back off so Cory could have some real freedom now that she was legally an adult according to wizarding law."

Finn smiled knowingly, he knew exactly how Aunt Ginny could be… and Aunt Hallie… and his mum and most likely every other woman in the wizarding world if not the whole world. What they say goes. "I bet Drae didn't stand a chance."

"I know I sure as hell wouldn't. Gin is kinda scary for such a tiny person. I would never cross her or either of our mums if I could help it." Pierce made a face at the idea of pissing off one or more of those women. "Honestly I really wouldn't want to cross Rose, Roxie or Cory either."

Finn snorted for a second time in the conversation. "Neither would I. Women are just too frightening when they get mad to make it worth it."

"Well I don't know how well you are doing in that department. You pretty much piss of Cory by breathing."

"That isn't _really_ my fault that I fell for a girl who is entirely bat shit crazy."

Pierce smirked wickedly at Finn. "I thought you were over her."

Finn's eyes grew wide and he silently cursed himself repeatedly as he realized his mistake. "I am! It was a slip of the tongue… force of habit."

"Sure it was mate. Sure it was."

Finn shot his friend a clearly threatening look. "Shut it. I have to finish packing."

Pierce smiled innocently, "I am not at all stopping you. In fact, as a sign of good faith, I am going to steer the conversation back to the little one. How is she feeling about starting school?"

Finn continued to eye him suspiciously but answered the question. "Sissy is ecstatic. She cannot wait and has even had a calendar counting down the number of days till September 1st since she got her letter earlier in the summer. It has done nothing but make mum worse. It has been so bad that my father told me he has even been considering having another child just to make my mum be normal again."

Pierce raised a golden eyebrow. "You're dad huh?"

"Yep, Mr. Counting-Down-the-Days-Till-My-Children-Move-Out is that desperate."

"Wow… intense."

Finn laughed. "Agreed. I mean, of course he loves us and always says how much he enjoys having Sissy and I around but we can all tell he has begun to miss the days when it was just him and my mum. He is done with the babies thing."

"I feel like all parents must miss that freedom on some level."

"You're probably right, but I think it is a little more extreme in my father's case which is why him planning for a possible third child is so weird. Although… if you think about it, that kid would probably be the first planned child that any of our families have ever had. I am fairly certain that none of the kids born around our age were planned, like it's common knowledge that neither Cory nor I were."

Pierce laughed again as he nodded his agreement. "Rose was a surprise as well I believe but I have no clue about the twins. I was not planned either… but my father claims I was most likely plotted because my mother wanted to have a child in the same year as Ginny and Luna so she was trying to get pregnant before they were even married and barely engaged."

Finn shot him a confused sideways glance. "That's a bit weird."

"I always thought so." Pierce agreed as he twisted around in his chair. "But then again the three of them do everything together right? I'm sure my mum felt left out when the other two had babies and she wasn't even pregnant yet."

"I feel like that statement is yet further proof that all three of them are entirely mad."

"Not going to fight you there."

* * *

An hour or so later both blokes were waiting downstairs in the Floo Room of Zabini Manor watching and staying safely out of the way as Luna ran around frantically followed closely by Blaise and Hallie. She had been absolutely beside herself in the last few days as she had attempted to get Seraphina ready for her first train ride to Hogwarts.

It was causing her to be more left of center than normal. Normally, Blaise was the one full of big ideas and emotions that Luna had to bring back down to earth but increasingly in the last few weeks Luna was most definitely having a hard time letting her baby go and it was all Blaise could do to try and temper some of her mild meltdowns, something he was entirely unaccustomed to with his relaxed, if a bit dreamy, wife.

Suddenly Blaise reappeared. "Hey mate," he said a bit breathless and definitely worn out as he approached his son and his best friend. "Have you seen your sister's yellow jumper anywhere? For some reason it is imperative that she bring it with her."

"I am not sure, I don't think so."

"Are you sure?"

"Bloody hell dad, I don't know alright?" Finn snapped.

Blaise sighed in exhaustion; he had had 18 good years of his family being relatively normal. He should have expected that this phase would come eventually; at least he was able to comprehend why they were each so on edge. "Ok." He responded and turned to exit the room again.

"Whoa, calm down mate. It was just a question." Pierce said nudging Finn with his shoulder.

"I am completely calm."

"Yeah, I'm sure and I'm sure that the fact that you haven't been snapping at everyone who has come in contact with you all afternoon, including Sissy, has nothing to do with the fact that every minute that passes brings you closer to seeing Cory again for the first time in 8 months."

Finn compulsively ground his teeth in an effort stop himself from rising to Pierce's challenge. He was only trying to get under his skin at this point… even if his accusation might hold some truth to it. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Of course you don't." pierce replied resignedly, rolling his eyes and checking his watch for the millionth time. Even if Finn had no desire to get to see his longtime flame, he on the other hand was more than ready to get there and find his.

Amazingly, twenty minutes later all belongings had been packed, all trunks had been shrunk and by 5:53 all four Zabinis and both Notts were ready to make the trip to Malfoy Manor.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 2. I have been TERRIBLE at individually replying to reviews lately but I really do read and appreciate every single one!

PLEASE REVIEW! Let know what you think of them so far.

Care


	4. The Truce

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the amazing world of Harry Potter!

Chapter 4: The Truce

* * *

The quartet continued to laze around in Cory's room musing about all the possible new developments, some of which were sure to happen, in the year to come.

Before too long there was a loud pop at the end of her bed announcing the entrance of her mother's small personal house elf named Blinky. "Mistress Cory, Miss Rose, Miss Roxanne, Mister Jasper,"

"Hey Blinky," Cory said brightly. "What's up? How's Lilith?"

Blinky blushed a bright pink at the mention of his fellow houseelf who he notoriously had a crush on. Lilith was Draco's personal elf and for years she had barely even given Blinky the time of day… at least not while anyone was watching. "Blinky has not been seeing Ms. Lily lately… he has been sent here by Mistress Ginny to ask you to come down to the main sitting room. She said people are beginning to arrive."

"Alright, thank you Master Blinky." Jasper drawled causing the houseelf to turn an even deeper shade of pink and then immediately apperate out of the room without another word.

"Jas!" Cory scolded. "Why did you do that to him? You know how skittish he is!"

"Oh it was just a bit of fun! I didn't mean to cause any harm." He said smiling at her angelically.

"Sure you didn't. Ok, come on now, get out of my room! Go!" she called out, forcing everyone to rise from their prone positions on the bed and make their way towards the door. The twins led the charge and skipped down the stairs apparently chasing each other.

Cory and Rose walked down the stairs at a pace a bit slower than the other pair. Cory was in no hurry to meet the crowd and even though Rose was, as always, more than ready to see Pierce she allowed herself to be held back as she walked arm in arm with her best friend.

Sensing Cory's blatant hesitation Rose commented offhandedly: "This really is not going to be as much of a tragedy as you believe it will be my love. You have never really acknowledged it but Finn is great and America was really good for him… in several different ways!" she added a wink on the end of her statement for emphasis.

"I'm sure it was." Cory said without any real enthusiasm. "Doesn't mean I want to deal with him though Rosie."

Rose snorted a bit. "I wouldn't make that judgment call until you've seen him."

"You're as bad as Roxie." Cory asserted in a shocked tone. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at Rose as they walked arm in arm into the main sitting room of Malfoy Manor where the group was just beginning to gather.

As her eyes refocused and scanned the room though, they landed on what could only be described as a perfect specimen of masculinity on the far side of the room. "Oh bloody hell." She muttered incredulously under her breath.

Rose laughed out loud and then whispered back: "I told you so."

Cory couldn't help but allow her eyes to feast on the site that was a new and, truly, greatly improved Finneaus Zabini.

Finn still stood at a height of what must have been about 6'2", a bit taller than his own father but still noticeably not reaching that of her father and Harlan's gigantic stature. His hair that was normally a dark mahogany brown hair and cropped rather short to his head was now longer, shaggier even, hanging down into his face that miraculously lent him an air of mystery rather than clean cut pureblood boy. The color too had changed into a warmer brown that practically shimmered in the sun streaming through the window next to which he stood. It seemed to Cory as if every strand gave the impression of being dusted with gold. His skin too, normally a lovely olive tone inherited from father's his Greek heritage, was a deep bronze from apparently countless hours in the sun that seemed to love him so much. His eyes though had not changed one bit. They were still the clearest blue that Cory had ever seen she observed as they momentarily flashed to where the two girls were standing before flicking away again.

"What do I do?" Cory hissed at her best friend.

Rose looked over at her in surprise, clearly not fully understanding the internal turmoil Cory was experiencing. "What are you even talking about? Let's go say hello to everyone."

"I can't go over there! Look at him!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Cordelia, you're not even making sense now my love. I'm going to go say hello, both because I should and because my own beautiful Slytherin is standing over there. Let me know what you decide to do... but don't take too long with deciding or Roxie might just make good on her earlier threat." And with that the traitor winked at Cory before she sauntered over to the steadily growing group of young people, leaving Cory to fend for herself on the outskirts stuck between for the first time an overwhelming desire to follow up on Roxanne's earlier advice and the natural impulse to run as far away from this room as possible.

* * *

Finn stiffened as Rose and Cory entered the room.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Rose said something briefly to Cory and then immediately walked toward the group of school aged teens while Cory hung back a moment looking as if she was trying to decide what to do before flitting over to greet all the adults… she was most likely avoiding him, as usual.

He hated to admit it but that still stung a bit.

He did his very best not to even look at her and to focus on the conversation at hand but Cory could be very distracting. She was just still so absolutely beautiful. Her tiny figure, her long red gold hair that fell in waves, nearly to her waist, and most importantly molten steel grey eyes that he knew would harden ever so slightly every time she looked at him. That was why he had to move on from his school yard crush on her, she couldn't stand him and he couldn't stand the coldness any longer… now if only he could get over the utterly ridiculous lightheaded feeling he irrationally got every time she walked into the room.

Pierce was right, he sounded like a complete girl. And what was worse was that in the minute and a half that she had been in his presence every last bit of the resolve to give up on her that he had worked so hard to build up in the last seven months had vanished in practically an instant.

He shifted nervously as he saw her begin to approach the group and elbowed Pierce in the arm in what he hoped was a subtle manner. His best friend merely glanced up in annoyance from here he was chatting with Rose and the twins before noticing why Finn was acting so strangely. He sighed and inclined his head ever so slightly, giving the other three a very pointed look. "Here we go." He whispered.

"Hey everyone!" Cory said brightly. "What are we talking about?"

"How much we don't want to go back to school mostly." Pierce said grinning at her as he stepped forward to greet her with a kiss on the cheek.

"I definitely know that feeling!" she agreed, her eyes flashing with happiness. As she turned to Finn though, her manner became more subdued. "Hi," she said quietly.

He choked out a similar greeting before leaning down to greet her in the same manner as Pierce had.

As his lips met her cheek he felt a slight electric shock where his skin found hers. When she leaned back though her eyes had become absolutely unreadable which caused his heart clench.

This just would not do. Another year of this just would not do.

What he needed was a new plan of attack… and maybe, just maybe, the plan that was beginning to form in his mind would work. Well it would either help him get over her or make things worse than ever, but either way, he decided, he had to take the chance.

* * *

"Cory," Finn said quietly, drawing her attention away from the magazine she had become completely absorbed in since nearly the beginning of the train ride nearly an hour or so ago at that point. She allowed herself to glance around their crowded cabin to take in all the sleeping forms that surrounded her before giving her attention solely to Finn.

"What's up?" She responded, doing her best to keep her tone casual.

The last 24 hours with him had been awkward to say the least. There was a definite unexplained tension that had cropped up between the two that had never been present there before and it had dramatically influenced the mood of their group of friends.

Last night at dinner for example, while the unruly group of parents had made more than their fair share of noise at one end of the exceedingly long table that dominated the main Dining Room of Malfoy manner, the children at the other end had remained fairly subdued due to the fact that neither Cory nor Finn had contributed much of anything to the conversation. In fact if it hadn't been for Jasper and Roxanne's fairly constant chatter to keep a conversation going it most likely would have fallen flat between Rose and Pierce's silent yet almost constant flirtatious stares and Harlan's absolute refusal to answer any of the questions about his mystery girl that his best friends periodically threw at him.

The evening had remained similarly but eerily calm and Cory at least had retired fairly early to finish packing, though that did not stop the twins from remaining hot on her heels.

According to Harlan the next morning Finn had remained with the three musketeers for the rest of the evening while the younger children had disappeared somewhere in the manor, surely causing trouble if she knew Silas at all, and Rose and Pierce had also gone off and disappeared, probably to one of the many nearly empty rooms, for some time alone together.

Now on the train though, Cory and Finn had both been sitting silently, allowing equally mundane activities to hold their attention as one by one the others had fallen asleep till, as Finn saying her name had drawn her attention to, only the awkward pair remained awake.

"I was just wondering if you and I could talk for a minute... Try and diffuse some the tension between us? Maybe take a walk?"

Cory chewed on her lip before nodding slowly. She was not entirely keen on being alone with him, especially since her newly acknowledged physical attraction to him, but she also felt that a conversation between the two was very much needed.

She carefully climbed over all the bodies and followed Finn out into the corridor. They walked along the long train for a few minutes in silence, dodging scads of people from all houses, greeting many by name but neither began the conversation that they had set out upon.

Finally, as the neared the end of the train where very few people remained, Finn let out a long sigh. "I guess since I dragged you out here I should be the one to start huh? So here goes, we both know that I have been... Shall we say, into you for...," he paused and ran a hand through his dark hair and softly laughed to hismself under his breath. "Let's be honest, for years. I just want you to know now though that I've... Gotten over it? Does that sound too harsh?"

Cory looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "What are you trying to say Finn?" She felt herself becoming slightly offended at what he was insinuating even though she knew that he probably didn't mean it that way but it still didn't make his words sting any less.

"That didn't come out right. Look," he tried again, his voice more strained this time, imploring her to understand. "All I'm trying to say is that I would really like to be friends with you this year, or at least try to. I won't say anything about it, I won't insinuate, and I will try to stop others from doing so as well. We can just be friends, nothing more."

"Ok..." Cory said hesitantly. "Being friends could be interesting... What brought all this on?"

"Let's just say I had lots of experiences over the last few months and I realized that I was probably wasting both of our time. I just want to enjoy our last year in school, no awkwardness with our friends, on our team or in our house. So what do you say?" He asked holding out his hand. "Truce?"

Cory took his hand and shook it firmly before smiling up at him. "Yeah. I think I can definitely live with that. Truce."

* * *

Cory sat fiddling with the antique fork at the place setting in front of her, trying in vain to will all the serving apparatus that were spread out along the overly long table to overfill so that she might be able to eat. She always hated this part, the having to wait; obviously patience was not a Malfoy virtue.

But wait she did, forcing herself to look interested as the newest crop of… well babies were marched in by McGonagall and listening with mild amusement to the Sorting Hat's latest jingle

Also, somehow in all the craziness of the Sorting Feast, Cory had ended up squished in between pierce and Finn at the long Slytherin House table.

'Great' she thought to herself, ' the longest meal of the entire year and my conversation choices are infatuated-with-my-best-friend-so-he-has-to-talk-about-her boy and used-to-be-in-love-with-me-but-now-wants-to-be-friends boy.' It was going to be a very, very long evening with these as her only options.

The only upside was for the first time since Silas and Lily had been sorted in her third year, Cory had something to look forward to what with Seraphina being sorted this year. Too bad she would most likely be the very last student sorted just as Finn had been with a name like Zabini.

So Cory sat and waited, clapping when new Slytherins were called as expected and making little comments here and there to the boys as they watched the never ending parade of new first years make their way up on to the professor's platform to try on the tired old hat.

What Cory found, though, was that she was pleasantly surprised by how well they were all getting on. She even allowed herself to giggle out loud at some of the comments Finn was making.

Why had she never sat by him for this meal before? Or for that matter noticed how funny he could be?

'Probably had something to do with the fact that you spent a considerable amount of energy both making yourself dislike him and avoid him.'

Well maybe now that they had officially called a truce she would finally be able to enjoy his company and see what all the fuss about him was about. She still hadn't told any of their other friends about the conversation at the end of the train but now sitting next to him and laughing… well maybe they should just keep that information between the two of them. it wasn't like Rose, Pierce and the twins wouldn't notice on their own that she and Finn were getting along better than they had… well ever.

Finally, after what seemed like years, the long awaited moment arrived.

Sissy was the only little first year still standing up in front of the rest of the school and she looked absolutely terrified especially as Professor McGonagall called out "Seraphina Zabini."

For a moment Sissy did not move at all but her terrified little face spun around to the Slytherin House table obviously seeking out the two faces she trusted the most. Finding them sitting together and smiling at her enthusiastically, Seraphina was able to gather; up the courage to slowly walk up the steps to the awaiting stool.

With each step she took Cory could feel Finn become wound tighter and tighter. He was obviously more than a little nervous for his precious baby sister. His mood was making Cory herself even more nervous to the point where when Sissy reached the highest and last step Cory reached over and grabbed Finn's hand without even thinking.

The moment she touched him he relaxed slightly, her presence and support making him instantly feel calmer. Despite this, he continued to grip onto her hand tightly as the hat was lowered onto Sissy's head and seconds that seemed like hours just dragged by before finally the scruffy hat called out in a clear voice, "Ravenclaw."

The whole Ravenclaw table began to cheer as Cory and Finn allowed themselves to relax.

"Well it's not Slytherin but I think that she will be very happy there." Cory said breathing a sigh; of relief.

Finn snorted. "My mum will be happy too."

"I bet she will." She whispered back as Professor Dumbledore stood up to make his customary beginning of term speech that, as usual, never seemed to end.

When it finally did though the headmaster clapped his hands and all four tables became over laden with food causing Cory's eyes to light up with happiness. She looked up and down her immediate section of the table, trying to decide what to try first.

The on her face caused Finn to laugh out loud. Never had he ever seen a person so excited about food. It was something he had amazingly never noticed about Cory… and it intrigued him.

She smiled up at him sheepishly before turning back to beautifully dressed roast chicken and potatoes that were directly in front of her, apparently deciding to begin there and dug in.

He observed her for another moment before thinking to himself, 'this is going to be a very interesting year.'

* * *

I said it was on hiatus but I lied. I wrote another chapter. All of it today. Still have some kinks to work out on the story as a whole but I will keep working on it. Bare with me!

Thanks to the couple of you who reviewed! I hope everyone does this time!

Care


	5. CoCaptains

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the amazing world of Harry Potter!

Chapter 5: Co-Captains

* * *

The first week of classes absolutely flew by for Cory and all her friends. It must have been something about seventh year and the already looming threat of NEWTs in the not all too far off future but the fact that her entire class was already on edge did not escape her notice as her final class for the week early Friday afternoon came to a much appreciated end.

It was most definitely going to be a long year Cory thought to herself as she weaved her way through a the overly crowded Entrance Hall and down into the significantly quieter Dungeons.

That was one of the things she loved about the Dungeons. There was always a certain calmness and tranquility to them that made them considered eerie to the other houses. She didn't mind though if the rest of Hogwarts felt out of place in their cool quiet sanctuary, to Cory and her fellow Slytherins felt the Dungeons felt like home.

She muttered the password to let herself into the common room and then headed straight down the long girls hallway all the way back to the seventh year dorm room.

She opened the door to see, as expected, the room partitioned off into five distinct areas which designated the personal space of each girl in the room. Though she liked her roommates as people, the five of them had all quickly learned that they were just not cut out for sharing a single space with others. They were all very private people by nature and had devised this particular set up in their second year in order to retain that much craved privacy as well as their friendships.

The room was set up with two girls on one side and two on the other with the fifth arranged on the far side. Gemma and Liliana's spaces were on the left, Amelia and Hannah on the right and in the apex of the room was Cordelia's section of the room. Each section had been given its own silencing charm to ensure that their privacy included conversations and other noises as well. It had always worked out very well for them and had been most helpful in diffusing tensions in the room for last four years. They never ever underestimated the importance of their own door.

Cory pushed aside the shimmery silver curtains that served as the entrance to her little 'room', slipped off her shoes and allowed herself to sink onto her bed. She reached up and loosened her tie without even opening her eyes. This really had to be the most exhausting first week she had ever experienced and to compound that feeling she also still had Quidditch practice tonight.

Quidditch. That reminded her that too soon she would be forced to move again in order to get up and change for practice in order for her to make it down to the pitch on time. Despite her best efforts to move though, she felt her eyes growing heavier and heavier until they slid shut.

* * *

Cory ran through the halls and up out of the dungeons, dodging all the students who were in her way. After falling asleep for close to half an hour she was very nearly late for the first Quidditch practice of the year and their captain, Oliver Greenwood, would most definitely not be happy with her.

She raced out of the castle and across the wide open courtyard as she made her way ever closer to the pitch. For some reason Cory never seemed to be able to make it to a practice on time. She tried, but no matter what something always seemed to come up at the very last second to distract her just long enough to make her late. This had been happening for the last five years since she joined the team as a second year when their former seeker had graduated making Cory the youngest player to join the Slytherin Quidditch Team since her father had been appointed to the same position at the same age.

She was always surprised with every season that she made it through without getting kicked off the team due to incessant tardiness which was a very strict rule among the Slytherin house. For some reason, though, all the captains who she had played under had gritted their teeth and dealt with it. It probably had something to do with the fact that she was arguably the best player on the team with the most natural talent of the bunch, with the possible exception of Finn. Really one of them should have been made captain last season when the position became vacant but Professor Snape had decided that giving it to one or the other was not worth taking the risk of making the slighted player quit. They were both invaluable to the team and were probably jointly the reasons that Slytherin had held the Quidditch Cup title for the three of the last four years running since Finn had won a spot in his third year.

When she finally reached the pitch Cory forced herself to speed up just a little bit more until she arrived at the Slytherin locker room on the far side of the pitch. She stopped just short of the door and paused a moment to try to catch her breath before flipping open the flap and sliding inside. Her goal was to enter quietly, unnoticed, and take a seat at the back. Unfortunately for her, today was no ordinary practice.

"Ah! Ms. Malfoy, how nice of you to join us and exactly on time I see." Cory winced as the sound of Professor Snape's voice came from the front of the room where Oliver should have stood.

She straighten and smiled a perfect Weasley smile that even would put her mother to shame at her head of house and favorite professor, who despite these gave her no breaks in her career at Hogwarts. "Hello Professor, so sorry I'm late but you know me, I like to make an entrance!"

"That you do," he smirked back at her with what could only be described as Snape's attempt at affection for a student. "Please take a seat so we can resume. As I was about to say, Oliver Greenwood has been forced to resign from his post as the captain of this team for the remainder of this season. He is taking at least the first semester off of school for medical leave and will hopefully be back with us in the spring but will not take back his post. If any of you would like to know more details of his illness you may come see me in my office to discuss it."

Immediately worried whispers began to fill the room as all of the remaining six players began to talk at once, speculating on what would become of their team with the absence of a leader.

"As a result," Snape continued more loudly to assert himself over the quiet hum of voices. "I have been forced to select a new captain from among you to replace him. Due to the sudden nature of this appointment, though, I have chosen to do something rather unconventional in the history of Slytherin Quidditch and even more broadly of Hogwarts Quidditch at large for this season. I have decided to make the post of captain a co position in order to lessen the load on both of the selected individuals. Normally, the captain has all summer to prepare for the season and I thought that perhaps with two brilliant player rather than one at the head it would make up for much of that lost preparation time. So without further ado, your new captains for the 2019-2020 Quidditch season will be Finneaus Zabini and Cordelia Malfoy."

The team began to cheer at the announcement of their two most valuable players being put in charge of the Slytherin team.

Cory and Finn though were both in complete shock. This announcement was not something they had ever expected when coming, or running in Cory's case, down to practice.

"Alright well the rest of you are dismissed. Practice has been rescheduled for tomorrow in order to give your captains some time to decide how they wish to work this out… or, as their faces suggest, for the news to sink in."

The whole team quickly filed out of the locker room after quick congratulations to their new leaders, more than a little bit excited at the prospect of a Friday night without practice, leaving Snape with his two new captains.

The pair stared at him obviously still in shock. "This would be the time for you to ask me any questions you might have." He looked at Cory with one eyebrow raised. "Thoughts Ms. Malfoy?"

"I'm not quite sure what to think professor. I was under the impression that both Finn and myself were unsuitable as captains. Why did then decide to give both of us a go?"

"It was not that you were unsuitable Ms. Malfoy, the thought had crossed my mind more than once to make either Mr. Zabini or yourself the captain at various points prior to this. For one reason or the other I had always deemed that decision unsuitable then and have now decided to try this to see if my earlier… hesitations might be alleviated."

"Sir," Finn chimed in. "Do you really think that I'm the right choice for co-captain? What with NEWTs and Head Boy don't you think it will be a bit much?"

Cory's eyebrows shot up at the mention of Head Boy. How had it totally escaped her for an entire week that Finn had somehow wrangled Head Boy despite his semester sabbatical? Also where was had his bloody badge been that was supposed to signify his position?

"Well it will require considerable organizational skills and a concerted effort to abandon your genetically inherited flare for procrastination but given that, I feel that the combination of your two separate styles will be beneficial to you both and will with any luck lead Slytherin to yet another Quidditch Cup victory."

When neither of them said anything more Snape took his leave of them, leaving the two Slytherin captains alone to discuss their next move.

"So… This is an interesting turn of events." Finn began.

"That is a very politically correct way of putting things… not exceedingly useful though huh?" Cory snorted.

"Sarcasm doesn't seem to be much more helpful Cordelia." Finn snapped at her.

Finn snapped at her. Well this was yet another new turn of events. Finn had never snapped at her, ever. "I'm sorry." She stuttered out, mostly from shock. "Natural response... How about well what are we going to do about it?"

Finn shrugged off his robes and tossed them onto the bench beside him before running his hand across his face. "No I'm sorry for snapping at you. How am I already stressed out about this year?"

"Well considering that you are apparently running the bloody school, Mr. Head Boy, might have something to do with it." She said giving him a small smile to offset the sarcasm.

"It is seriously starting to feel that way. I would really like to know which professor decided that I am responsible enough to be given all these honors, maybe try to find a way to _thank_ them."

"Oh come on Finn, who is more responsible than you? You deserve all of this, really you do." She said earnestly as she sat down next to him. "If anyone could handle all this it is definitely you." The compliment sat awkwardly in her mouth. Just as he never snapped at her she never well… talked to him unnecessarily. This year was going to be the strangest she had ever experienced she could tell.

Finn grimaced. "It is just a bit stressful being made Head Boy one day and then Quidditch Captain, or well Co-Captain, the next."

"Yeah, how did you get made Head Boy? I seemed to have missed that bit somehow."

His grimace deepened. "Yesterday I was called to the headmaster's office and told that apparently Robert Macmillian declined the post after only five days. He decided he wasn't cut out for the job or some rubbish like that."

Cory snorted. "More like he couldn't juggle Head Boy, NEWTs and his overwhelmingly constant need to snog the face off of his fifth year girlfriend."

They both made a face of disgust at each other before bursting out laughing for several minutes, leaving them both breathless but happily bemused.

Cory found herself really enjoying being in Finn's company once again. She took several deep steadying breaths to try and suppress all the leftover laughter and get back down to business. "So Mr. Head Boy," She said finally. "I hate to tell you this but I think Snape might be right. Your greatest challenge is going to be making sure you completely organize your time so that nothing important suffers."

Finn made a face at her return to the more serious matters. "I guess you are right… but I mean, I always get it all done."

"Yes but that was before you were Co-Captain and Head Boy and… and…"

"I'm not good at time budgeting. I've always been more of a fly by the seat of my trousers type bloke. I personally blame the combination of the people who raised me personally." He said with a classically Slytherin smirk, lowering his head just so he could then tilt his big blue eyes back up at her with feigned innocence.

They were captivating. It took all Cory's will power to not be bewitched by their azure depths. She shook her head to both disagree with him and just as much to clear her senses. There was obviously something quite wrong with her today… and all this week but she shoved that thought to the back of her mind and plunged ahead. "Valiant effort but we're going to have to agree to disagree."

"Apparently… let's hope it doesn't become a pattern or this is going to become a very long Quidditch season."

Now it was her turn to smirk. "Oh I'm sure it will be regardless… especially when you consider the fact that I am going to be helping you manage your schedule."

His eyes flashed to her and surveyed her dubiously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that since you are both incredibly busy and horrid at managing your time, I have decided to help you with this second task in order to make your life run more smoothly."

"And why would you be willing to do that?" he asked in a tone that clearly displayed his skepticism.

"Well I think that if your life runs smoothly then my life will run more smoothly because everything will be scheduled so when it's time to work on Quidditch you will be focused on just that and not all other things you did not get done."

"Oooh, I get it. So what you're saying is that helping me will really be helping you."

"Well of course."

"And here I thought you were just being nice." He let his body swing over so that his shoulder collided gently with hers.

She flashed him a grin. "And why would I do that? I'm a Malfoy; we're only nice when it's beneficial to us. Don't you know anything Zabini?"

He chuckled. "Apparently not."


	6. Jinxx

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the amazing world of Harry Potter!**

**Chapter 6: Jinxx**

* * *

"Alright up." Cordelia said emphatically as she mirrored her command.

"Why?" Finn countered. Cory had a particular gleam in her eye that he was automatically wary to trust. He was far too familiar with the little red head to put his faith in anything that even resembled an idea from her. Years of getting in trouble from carrying out one or the other of her schemes had taught him that.

She was far too Slytherin for his own good.

"Well there is no time like the present right? Let's go back to the common room and get started. I am not opposed to avoiding my homework for a few more hours."

"Why don't we just go to my new room instead?" he suggested offhandedly.

"Oooh Finn, that wasn't what I was thinking but I can be flexible." She laughed giving him a wink.

Finn just rolled his eyes and stood up. "That ship has sailed love."

"You are probably right; we should just stick to Quidditch then." And with that she walked out of the changing rooms, assuming he would follow.

She was not disappointed. Within moments he was once again by her side and they made their way back up from the pitch to the castle.

Along the way they chatted casually about mundane topics such as their classes and their families. In all honesty it was still all a bit surreal to be on such civil terms with Finn but Cory found herself once again greatly enjoying his company. Her initial impressions were proving to be true, he really was quite funny. How had she never really taken notice of this fact at any point in the last 18 years? Maybe her friend's version of Finn was slightly more accurate that she had ever given credence to before.

They continued up the steps of the castle and through the Entrance Hall but just before the pair was about to make the turn into the corridor that would lead them to the Dungeons, a small voice called out Finn's name in distress.

"Finneaus!"

Both Finn and Cory spun around to search for the source of the voice and were shocked to see a distraught Seraphina bolting straight at them.

Finn automatically bent down to catch his sister in his arms the moment she reached them. "Sissy? What's wrong love? Did something happen?"

"Finn," she gasped out around hiccupped sobs, her face buried in the shoulder of his robes. "I am a complete failure! McGonagall is never going to pass me. I'm going to be stuck as a first year forever all because I can't transfigure a matchstick into a needle!"

Finn visibly relaxed. "Oh is that all? Well I can help you with that darling. You just need to calm down a bit eh?" He looked up at Cory and smiled at her in obvious amusement. "Do you mind if we reschedule?"

Cory smiled down at the pair. She couldn't help but to allow her heart to warm at the sight. There was no way even she could deny that Finneaus was the best big brother she had ever seen. "Yeah, of course." She replied. "We can save the personal tour for later, this is definitely more important right now."

"Thanks." He responded. "Come on little one. Let's go see about this needle."

* * *

Cory meandered away from the entrance to the Dungeons and instead, with her new found freedom, she went to search out someone else to entertain her. Upon approaching the Great Hall she was not disappointed when she spotted both of her little brothers sitting together at one of the long tables playing a game of wizards' chess.

She made her way over to them. "Hello loves."

They both glanced up from the game slightly confused at the break in their concentration. Their bewilderment was short lived though once they recognized there sister.

"Oh hey Cory!" Silas said brightly.

"What brings you here sis?" Harlan added.

"I had some time on my hands and spied my two favorite brothers so I thought I would give them the pleasure of my company." Cordelia informed them.

"Oh, how magnanimous you are Cory." Harlan said rolling his eyes.

"Especially when you consider the fact that we are her only brothers." Silas added with a grin.

"That you are," Cory agreed. "And as you're only sister and therefore your favorite, I am declaring this chess game a draw and forcing you both to come entertain me." She snapped her fingers and all the pieces flew around the board to the previous game was all but lost.

"A bit pushy, this one, using wandless magic to get her way…" Harlan said with a grin.

Silas laughed his agreement but had already begun to pack up the chess set in order to obey his older sister's order.

"So what are we doing Cordelia?"

"I don't know, that's why I said you need to entertain me. What do we normally do with free time on our way hands?"

"I don't understand the question." Silas said with a ponderous look on his face "What is free time?"

Both of his siblings laughed out loud.

Cory leaned down and gave Silas a kiss on his dirty blond head. "Come on you two; let's go find something to do."

* * *

Finn heard the door to his room swing open, must be Pierce. Only he and Sissy knew the password that would allow them access to his private rooms.

Sure enough, within in moments his best friend emerged from the entrance way and plopped himself down quite unceremoniously in the chair nearest the couch where Finn and his little sister were sitting.

"Hey mate! Hey munchkin! What are we working on?"

"Transfiguration," Sissy said, still obviously not impressed with the subject but at least the tone now lacked the devastation that was present earlier.

"Is it the needle? I was rubbish at the needle. Took me weeks to figure it out and I probably wouldn't have ever gotten it right without Rose's help."

"Yep, it's the stupid needle. When am I ever going to need to know how to make a matchstick into a needle? Never, that's when." She fumed.

"Valid point, my pint-sized darling. Yet alas, McGonagall requires it. You'll get it, especially if you have your big brother's help. How long do you think you will be engaged by the evil needle?"

Finn finally spoke up, "Actually we were just about to call it quits for this evening. She has it mostly down so we will practice again tomorrow."

"Bueno." Pierce said, clapping his hands together in a ridiculous manner. "Do you mind if I steal your brother then Sissy? I need to talk to him about serious masculine matters."

"And by that he means Rose." Finn whispered to his sister with a wink.

"I figured." She whispered back giggling before turning back to pierce. "Ok, I'll leave you two be but you owe me mister." She said shaking a meaningful little finger at him.

"Of course, my queen." Pierce said with a grin, inclining his head as the little girl walked by.

"I like it when you refer to me by my title." She giggled again.

Pierce snorted and said, "I don't know what you people did to this one but she is cheeky. I like her."

"Bye boys." She called out before exiting the room.

"Too cheeky for my own good sometimes and others she is still my baby sister crying on my shoulder. It is definitely a peculiar combination. Ok, so what is it this time?"

"Actually, I didn't come to talk about Rose, I came to ask if the rumors were true. Did you and your former flame just become Quidditch Co-Captains of Slytherin?"

"Yes, it is true."

Pierce's eyebrows shot up so high they nearly reached his hairline. "And how do you feel about this situation?"

"Fine!" Finn insisted. "Seriously, it is not a big deal. We are sort of becoming friends… or at least trying to."

"Hmm."

"Hmm? What is hmm?"

"Nothing, nothing… it's just interesting to me that as soon as you give up on this girl she is suddenly infiltrating all aspects of your life."

"No she's not. We were already on the Quidditch team together and in the same house and same classes. Cory was always there she just never wanted to be. Now that we are trying to be friends she just isn't fighting tooth and nail to make my life miserable. I'm ok with it."

Finn stood up and disappeared into his bathroom to change out of his practice robes and into normal clothes now that he had a moment to breathe, hoping his friend wouldn't follow him there.

No such luck. Pierce was hot on his heels and continued to berate Finn as he shed his robes and practice jersey in favor of a faded, worn black t-shirt.

"You can't fool me mate, say what you want but you can't fool me."

The pair emerged once again from the bathroom and were surprised to find that they were no longer alone. There in the middle of Finn's room stood a houseelf holding a box that was half her size.

"Hello?" Finn said questioningly.

"Hello Mr. Zabini, I is being charged with giving you this package. It is being for Ms. Cordelia Malfoy but she is not being in her room so I is having instructions to leave it with the Head Boy. That is being you."

Finn's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Why can't you just leave it in her room? None of her roommates would bother it."

"I is not being allowed to leave the box on its own. It is being an especially special box that I is only allowed to leave with Ms. Malfoy or Mr. Zabini according to Professor Snape."

"Alright, well I suppose I will take charge of it then." He said, crossing the room to where the elf stood. "Give it here little one."

She held the box out as far as she was able and released it into Finn's awaiting hands before taking a step back, bowing and apparating out of the room.

Finn, for his part, was now left with a mystery box which at the very moment that it was transferred into his possession began to shake and growl. Oh bloody hell, what did he just get himself into?

He turned back and looked at Pierce who was watching him with an amused look.

"What do I do with it?"

"Put it down I suppose, it quite obviously doesn't like you."

"That seems to be an understatement." Finn agreed and followed his friend's advice and placed the parcel on the table.

It immediately calmed down.

"Don't know what the little bugger is but it already hates me. It's worse than Cory even."

Pierce snorted from behind him.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing… it's just, you are her mail boy now. I think that's cute." He said with a smirk.

"Oh fuck off."

The smirk widened. "No, first you claim you two are friends, then co-captains, and now mail boy. Before you know it you will be having sleepovers and braiding each other's hair while you giggle about the guys you like because you are BFFs."

"I think Jasper has that role pretty well covered for all the girls."

"Well then perhaps you can be Cory's special friend."

"The only type of special friend I want to be to that girl is the kind that gets to snog her." He said exasperatedly. "Other than that just normal friends is fine."

"Ha!" Pierce cried out triumphantly. "You still like her!

"No! For the millionth time!"

"You just admitted it!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did! Yes you did! I heard it! I knew it! I'm right!" Pierce insisted, jumping up and down and doing a stupid little dance at being right.

Finn ran his hands over his face. "Bloody hell you are obnoxious."

"I know."

"Get out."

"Ok." Pierce said with a cheeky grin before heading towards the door.

"Hey wait," Finn called out after him.

His friend's blond head peaked back around the door.

"If you see Cory send her my way."

Pierce smirked at him. "Will do."

* * *

Cory threw herself down onto one of the butter-soft black couches that were scattered about the Slytherin Common Room. It had been a long day, three classes back to back, the Quidditch news, then a rigorous pick up game with her brothers and now all she wanted to do was relax. She happily stretched herself out the length of the seat and closed her eyes.

She knew that no one would be stupid enough to disturb her. Seventh year was a hard one and so seventh year students had a certain degree of devil-may-care-ness that most often translated into an attitude that suggested they really had nothing to lose. They had worked their way up to where they were and now looked to rule the roost, just as all the seventh years had before them. Most younger years recognized this and so they were all too willing to stay out of their way.

Cory, for her part, was all too happy to take advantage of this fact and so found herself taking certain liberties that were accorded to her year – such as claiming an entire couch to herself in the prime time after classes but before dinner… and she enjoyed it.

Soon she fell into a light sleep.

"Cory."

Cory slowly came back to consciousness but did not open her eyes or give any indication that she was awake.

"Cory." The voice said again followed by a cold finger being poked unceremoniously into her cheek.

She growled lowly, a clear warning to leave her be.

"Cory."

Someone was going to die. One eye opened up into a slit. Pierce.

She should have known. He was probably the only one dumb enough to disturb her and the only one she liked enough to get away with it.

"What?"

"Good morning sunshine." He said in a much too chipper voice.

How was he not exhausted after a day like today? Pierce had all the same courses as Cory and so had done the same amount of work that day. The boy wasn't human, that was the only explanation.

"Finn is looking for you. The houseelves delivered a package to him for you."

"Why?"

"I think it is alive."

Cory's eyes opened a bit more as her eyebrows shot up in question. "Alive?"

"It growled the second he touched it. Must be a good judge of character, whatever it is."

Cory snorted, "And you are supposed to be his best friend."

"I am." Pierce replied with a cheeky grin. "Go find out what it is before it murders Finn in his sleep."

And with that he walked away, leaving Cory to groan as she slowly forced her body to arise and head to the newly created glossy black door that was tucked into a corner of the common room which she could only assume was the easiest way to find the new Head Boy.

* * *

Not ten minutes after he had kicked Pierce out of his room he heard a timid knock on his door. Well, not Pierce or Sissy, he wondered who it could be.

He crossed the room and swung open the door and came face to face with Cory in the Common Room.

"Oh, hey! Did Pierce find you?"

"Mhm." She said obviously chagrined. "He woke me up from a nap. What do you have for me?"

"Beats me," Finn shrugged. "Come in, it's on the table."

Cory timidly followed him into a massive room that was easily three times the size of her Slytherin dorm room. The whole thing was lavishly decorated in silver and a deep green with large handcrafted wooden furniture in a beautiful mahogany wood that matched all the rest of Slytherin House just on a larger scale.

There were also some personal touches that she could see thrown around, all which were infinitely more interesting to Cory than the standard furniture she was already accustomed to: a partially open black leather trunk with the letters FZ emblazoned on it, his broom propped up in a corner, a desk crowded with pictures of his family and their friends and already cluttered with bits of paper, and most intriguingly a large well worn looking portfolio made out of crimson colored leather. All these things intrigued Cory, little bits of the Finn she wanted to get to know.

"It's right here," He said, breaking her reverie as he gestured to a medium sized brown box on the table.

She walked over to examine it. "It must be from my father, my big birthday present. Ah yes, see this is his handwriting."

She detached a letter from the top of the box and quickly ripped it open.

_Cordelia, _

_Sorry this was a bit later than expected, there were some problems with transport and he was sent to Malfoy Manor rather than Hogwarts. Needless to say the problem of breaking the news to your mother has been dealt with and I am in large amount of trouble but she fell in love with him anyway so we might both be off the hook. Happy birthday love!_

_Love, _

_Daddy_

"Present!" she all but squealed when she had finished reading and passed the note off to Finn.

"But your birthday isn't for a few more weeks." Finn countered.

"I know, I normally get it over the summer so he can give it to me personally but apparently this one required more effort than normal."

"Probably because the bloody thing is alive. It growled at me."

"Pierce said it must have a good judge of character." Cory smirked as she kneeled down beside the table to open the box.

She quickly unsealed it and opened the flaps.

Out popped the most adorable little face she had ever seen. All black with big blue eyes that were very humanlike, tufted ears that were nearly the length of it head and were tipped white.

"Awww!" she practically squealed.

"What is it?" Finn asked wrinkling his nose.

"HE is a baby kneazle," She explained. "Isn't he adorable?"

"It looks like a rat."

"Oh stop that!" she replied to his negativity with a swat on the arm, though careful not to jostle her precious cargo. "You are just being mean! He is precious and perfect which is more than I can say for you Finneaus Zabini."

"Harsh." He replied in a deadpanned voice, quite obviously not at all phased by the gushing woman in front of him. "I thought kneazles were just cats."

"Did you fail care of magical creatures? No they are similar to cats physiologically but are more intelligent with high magical capabilities."

"I didn't fail… I just never opened the bloody man eating book." He grimaced at the thought of nasty little textbook.

"Stroke the spine."

"Shut up."

She just ignored him and reached in to pull out the little fuzz ball.

Looking at it closer, from what Finn could tell, even as a baby the creature's body was longer than the average cat's, its tail as well but it still looked like a cat… well really he did think it kind of looked like a rat with its angular, pointed face. The Kneazle was entirely black except for its ears, white tips on the paws and the tail… it looked evil, and from its earlier reaction to him just holding the box Finn could tell that he and the creature were not going to be friends.

In Cory's arms however, the creature was ecstatic. It already seemed to be half in love with her by the way it rubbed its whole body against her and made a sort of purring noise.

"What are you calling it?"

She stared at the little ball of fur contemplatively for a minute or so before declaring, "I think HIS name is Jinxx, with two Xs."

"Oh but of course, because one X would just be ridiculous."

She hit him again, harder this time. "I dislike you."

"Ow. Well, I dislike you!" Finn replied frowning and rubbing his arm. "You hit me a lot."

"You deserve to be hit a lot."


End file.
